PORTLAND, Ore. — On Tuesday night, Russell Westbrook didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday night, he didn’t play at all.

The embattled 33-year-old star sat out for the team’s game against the Blazers with lower back tightness, his first missed game of the season. ESPN reported that Westbrook first felt the tightness toward the end of Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee. Westbrook was officially listed as a game-time decision before being ruled out about an hour before tip-off. Before Wednesday night, he was the only Laker to have played in the previous 55 games.

Westbrook joined the team on the sideline, wearing a ballcap, slacks and a blazing orange shirt. Almost as conspicuous as Westbrook’s appearance: His first absence of the season came on the eve of the NBA trade deadline.

Southern California News Group reported Wednesday morning that unrest has taken hold of the locker room, as players have started to doubt that the roster is capable of contending as is. One of the most glaring issues is Westbrook, who has struggled to find a rhythm with the Lakers – admittedly during a chaotic season – and is mired in a shooting slump, averaging just 12.2 points while shooting 33.3% in his previous five games.

On Tuesday night, Westbrook made his most bold shot at the coaching staff, saying, “I’ve earned a right to be in closing lineups.” But despite Westbrook’s Hall of Fame-worthy resume, Coach Frank Vogel stuck to his guns when asked about Westbrook’s comments on Wednesday evening.

“Well, the needs of the team always come first,” Vogel said. “Russ has accomplished a lot in this league, and he’s had some great games and sequences for us here. But my job is to win games, and when you’re in those situations, you have a script of who you believe is gonna be in there, and the game will tell you otherwise if a change is needed.”

Added Vogel: “So we have to be willing to do whatever it takes to give the Lakers a win. So sometimes he’s gonna be in there for that, and sometimes he’s not.”

Westbrook has been excluded from crunch time in three games this season, including the last two. The tension between Westbrook and the coaching staff has fueled speculation that the former league MVP, who has a massive $44.2 million salary this season and a player option for $47.1 million next season, might be traded.

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But his salary itself is one of the biggest issues: Westbrook has the third-highest salary in the NBA this season, and both matching it with other players’ contracts, as well as having space under the salary cap present huge logistical challenges for the Lakers to move him. Westbrook’s uneven play makes his contract look even less appetizing, and ESPN reported that the Lakers have been unwilling to include their 2027 first-round draft pick (the next first-rounder they have available to trade) in any potential deadline deals.

Marc Stein reported in January that Houston, where Westbrook played during the 2019-20 season, was perhaps the best possible partner for such a swap: The Rockets have former Washington Wizards guard John Wall on their roster but have not played him in months as they rebuild. The Rockets and Wizards traded Wall for Westbrook in 2020, their massive contracts making ideal partners.

But the more likely scenario is that the Lakers don’t move Westbrook’s contract, in which case Vogel said he’ll plan to close games with Westbrook, but won’t think twice about substituting him out of games in which he’s struggling. While Westbrook said Tuesday that he didn’t think he needed to hit any benchmarks to close games, Vogel clearly had some in mind.

“For Russ, we’re looking for him to attack the basket and make great decisions when he gets there,” Vogel said. “Put a lot of pressure on the rim to finish, to be efficient with his scoring, keep his turnovers down and play hard on the defensive side of the ball.”